Balder Ex-Libris - Dasent George WebbeReview of books rare and missing2017-08-18T03:15:21+02:00urn:md5:c9a6cc40b646b8184eadcdd0220bb450DotclearDasent George Webbe - The story of Burnt Njalurn:md5:8157a8e587e02a6ec8e3ac00c51532e62013-09-16T15:03:00+01:002013-09-16T15:12:12+01:00Balder ExLibrisDasent George WebbeIcelandSweden <p><img src="http://www.balderexlibris.com/public/img2/.Dasent_George_Webbe_-_The_story_of_Burnt_Njal_s.jpg" alt="" /><br />
Author&nbsp;: <strong>Dasent George Webbe</strong><br />
Title&nbsp;: <strong>The story of Burnt Njal The great icelandic tribune, jurist, and counsellor.</strong><br />
Year&nbsp;: 1907<br />
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Link download&nbsp;: <a href="http://www.balderexlibris.com/public/ebook2/Dasent_George_Webbe_-_The_story_of_Burnt_Njal.zip">Dasent_George_Webbe_-_The_story_of_Burnt_Njal.zip</a><br />
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Prefatory note. This print of Sir George Dashnt's translation of the Njals Saga, under the title The Story of Burnt Njal, has been prepared in order that this incomparable Saga may become accessible to those readers with whom a good story is the first consideration, and its bearing upon a nation s history a secondary one—or is not considered at all. For Burnt Njal may be approached either as a historical document, or as a pure narrative of elemental natures, of strong passions, and of heroic feats of strength. Some of the best fighting in literature is to be found between its covers. Sir George Dasenfs version in its capacity as a learned work for the study has had nearly forty years of life; it is now offered afresh simply as a brave story for men who have been boys and for boys who are going to be men. We lay down the book at the end having added to our store of good memories the record of great deeds and great hearts, and to our gallery of heroes strong and admirable men worthy to stand beside the strong and admirable men of the Iliad—Gunnar of Lithend and Skarphedinn, Njal and Kari, Helgi and Kolskegg, beside Telamonian Aias and Patroclus, Achilles and Hector, Ulysses and Idomeneus. In two respects these Icelanders win more of our sympathy than the Greeks and Trojans; for they, like ourselves, are of Northern blood, and in their mighty strivings are unassisted by the gods. In the present volume Sir George Dasenfs preface has been shortened, and his introduction, which everyone should make a point of reading has been considerably abridged. Sir George Webbe Dascnt, D.C.L., the translator of the Njals Saga, zcas born in 1817 at St. Vincent in the West Indies, of which island his father was Attorney-General. He was educated at Westminster School, and at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, where he was distinguished both as a fine athlete and a good classic. He took his degree in 1840, and on settling in London showed an early tendency towards literature and literary society. The Sterlings were connected with the island of St. Vincent, and as Dasent and John Sterling became close friends, he was a constant guest at Captain Sterling s house in Knightsbridge, which was frequented by many who afterwards rose to eminence in the world of letters, including Carlyle, to whom Dasent dedicated his first book. Dasent's appointment in 1842 as private secretary to Sir James Cartwright, the British Envoy to the court of Sweden, took him to Stockholm, where under the advice of Jacob Grimm, whom he had met in Denmark, he began that study of Scandinavian literature which has enriched English literature by the present work, and by the Norse Tales, Gisli the Outlaw, and other valuable translations and memoirs. On returning to London again in 1845 he joined the Times staff as assistant editor to the great Delane, who had been his friend at Oxford, and whose sister he married in the follozmng year. In 1870 Mr. Gladstone offered him a Civil Service Commissionership, which he accepted and held until his retirement in 1892, He was knighted "for public services" in 1876, having been created a knight of the Danish order of the Dannebrog many years earlier. He died greatly respected in 1896. <strong>...</strong></p>Dasent George Webbe - A collection of popular tales from the Norse and North Germanurn:md5:e1b31a144cab12cc9985f2a3f8e031cd2013-09-16T14:55:00+01:002013-09-16T15:41:29+01:00Balder ExLibrisDasent George WebbeGermanyMythologyScandinaviaSweden <p><img src="http://www.balderexlibris.com/public/img2/.Dasent_George_Webbe_-_A_collection_of_popular_tales_from_the_Norse_and_North_German_s.jpg" alt="" /><br />
Author&nbsp;: <strong>Dasent George Webbe</strong><br />
Title&nbsp;: <strong>A collection of popular tales from the Norse and North German</strong><br />
Year&nbsp;: 1907<br />
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Link download&nbsp;: <a href="http://www.balderexlibris.com/public/ebook2/Dasent_George_Webbe_-_A_collection_of_popular_tales_from_the_Norse_and_North_German.zip">Dasent_George_Webbe_-_A_collection_of_popular_tales_from_the_Norse_and_North_German.zip</a><br />
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Introduction. Norse popular tales. The Norsemen came from the East, and brought a common stock of tradition with them. Settled in the Scandinavian peninsula, they developed themselves through Heathenism, Romanism, and Lutheranism, in a locality little exposed to foreign influence, so that even now the Daleman in Norway or Sweden may be reckoned among the most primitive examples left of peasant life. We should expect, then, that these Popular Tales, which, for the sake of those ignorant in such matters, it may be remarked, had never been collected or reduced to writing till within the last few years, would present a faithful picture of the national consciousness, or, perhaps, to speak more correctly, of that half consciousness out of which the heart of any people speaks in its abundance. Besides those world-old affinities and primaeval parallelisms, besides those dreamy recollections of its old home in the East, we should expect to find its later history, after the great migration, still more distinctly reflected&nbsp;; to discover heathen gods masked in the garb of Christian saints&nbsp;; and thus to see the proof that a j nation more easily changes the form than the essence of its faith, and clings with a toughness which endures for centuries to what it has once learned to believe. In the Norse mythology, Frigga, Odin's wife, who knew beforehand all that was to happen, and Freyja, the goddess of love and plenty, were prominent figures, and often trod the earth&nbsp;; the three Norns or Fates, who sway the minds of men, and spin their destinies at Mimirs' well of knowledge, were awful venerable powers, to whom the heathen world looked up with love and adoration and awe. To that love and adoration and awe, throughout the middle age, one woman, transfigured into a divine shape, succeeded by a sort of natural right, and round the Virgin Mary's blessed head a halo of lovely tales of divine help beams with soft radiance as a crown bequeathed to her by the ancient goddesses. She appears as divine mother, spinner and helpful virgin. Flowers and plants bear her name. In England one of our commonest and prettiest insects is still called after her, but which belonged to Freyja, the heathen "Lady," long before the western nations had learned to adore the name of the mother of Jesus. The Norseman's god was a god of battles, and victory his greatest gift to men&nbsp;! but this was not the only aspect under which the Great Father was revered. Not victory in the fight alone, but every other good gift came down from him and the Æsir. Odin's supreme will was that treasurehouse of bounty towards which, in one shape or the other, all mortal desires turned, and out of its abundance showers of mercy and streams of divine favour constantly poured down to refresh the weary race of men. All these blessings and mercies, nay, their very source itself, the ancient language bound up in a single word, which, however expressive it may still be, has lost much of the fullness of its meaning in its descent to these later times. This word was "Wish," which originally meant the perfect ideal, the actual fruition of all joy and desire, and not, as now, the empty longing for the object of our desires. <strong>...</strong></p>